บท 51: Chapter 5: Faith Of The Heart
Naruto strode through the streets of Konoha as the people rushed around completing their daily tasks. He had after a few hours gotten used enough to the seal placed on him by Jiraiya that he was capable of walking without feeling too much of a strain on his body. He still couldn't run, as at his first attempt he ended up slamming his foot into the ground too hard and injured his knee for a brief period of time. The injuries he had sustained due to the rigorous training had now healed up enough so that he didn't look as he had just been beaten half to death. The cuts had cleared and his nose was in a better condition so that it didn't look disfigured.
Before Jiraiya had left there was another interesting development as he found that the scroll that the Yondaime had left him also held a special three pronged kunai sealed inside. The kunai looked different from the normal kunais he was used to and it was also heavier. Jiraiya had told him that the kunai was made specifically for this technique and was obviously the only one left. Due to this information Naruto had decided he would get the owner of the weapon store to duplicate at least another additional 50 kunais like the one currently in his pouch. He decided to have this done as soon as possible lest he didn't have the time required for it later. He knew that learning the Yondaime's prized technique would be an extremely difficult task.
He carried on walking through the streets receiving a mixture of looks from the residents of Konoha. Some looked at him with appreciation whereas others who still couldn't understand the difference between him and his prisoner had an aura of disgust radiating off them. He opened the door to the weapons shop resounding in a high pitched chime alerting the store owner that someone had entered the store. The blonde genin looked at the store with awe as he realised that it had changed largely over the past few years. This was the first time he visited the store after his return to Konoha from his training trip. He looked to the counter to see a familiar kunoichi with a smile plastered across her face giving him a small wave before addressing him.
"Ohayo Naruto-kun, what brings you here?" Ten-Ten was looking directly at the blonde shinobi who was currently standing at the entranceway of the shop.
He walked towards her giving her a greeting while he had his usual foxy smile across his facade. "You work here?"
"Hai, when I'm not training. I'm learning craftsmanship from tou-san. He said the best way would be to work here with him and he would teach me alongside learning how to care for the shop." She twisted a kunai in her hands whilst engaging in the conversation.
The younger shinobi of the two gave a small laugh, "That explains how you manage to get all those weapons. A normal person would go bankrupt."
The kunoichi smiled, "So what would you like?"
Naruto put his hand into his pouch withdrawing the three pronged kunai and put it onto the counter, "I need another 50 kunai like this one."
Ten-Ten picked up the kunai and began to survey it turning it around in her hand checking its weight and balance. "I don't think we have any other kunai like this."
"You don't." Ten-Ten looked a little shocked at his statement. "I need you to make me another 50 kunai like that one."
Ten-Ten gave him a nod, "I understand." She retreated to the back of the store leaving Naruto to observe his surroundings. The blonde looked at the various ornaments littered around the store. There were an assortment of shinobi tools ranging from such items like food pills and shuriken to exploding tags and various types of bombs which differed from gas to light. However two weapons in particular caught his eye. They were twin blades of katanas, no doubt to be used in conjunction with other. The jinchuuriki started to contemplate on his Kaze No Yaiba jutsu and how he could possibly modify it. He never realised Ten-Ten walk in from the rear of the shop with an older man who was now holding the kunai that Naruto attained from Yondaime's scroll.
The older man looked at the blonde before giving a small chuckle alerting the said shinobi of his presence, "Long time no see Naruto, something caught your eye."
Naruto looked at the old man with smile of his own, "Not really." He walked towards the counter again before he was right in front of it. "So will you be able to make more?"
The old man laughed before his expression turned into a more serious one, "Of course. This is not the first time that I have been asked to duplicate such a kunai. There used to be a shinobi that came here who would ask for the same thing." He gave Naruto a knowing look all the while his daughter looked on trying to understand what the two were talking about.
"How long will it take? I need them done as soon as possible. It's important"
"Do you think you will be able to afford this, Naruto?" The craftsman's question was simple and resulted in Naruto placing 25,000 yen on the table in front of the older man's eyes.
The older man gave him a smile before handing him 5,000 yen back, "I'll give you a discount since it'll be my personal honour to make a kunai like this again. If you are going to use this kunai for what I'm assuming then I will have to craft them personally. It is important that the kunais have no faults. Come back in two weeks and I'll have them ready for you."
Naruto thanked him before heading out of the shop leaving a happy craftsman and a curious young kunoichi. Ten-Ten looked at her father eager to receive an answer from him, "Why is that kunai so important?"
The old man looked at his daughter, "The only other man to ask me to make this kunai was the Yondaime himself." He walked to the back of his shop leaving his stunned daughter behind.
Ten-Ten was shocked beyond comprehension and looked towards the door where Naruto had left moments before and a small smile graced her face.
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Sakura had been a chuunin for some time now and even though she had more administrative duties such as sorting the Godaime's paperwork and helping in handing out assignments she had never taught a class of eager wannabe ninjas. She stood at the centre of a loud class wherein the students shouted and laughed causing an absurd amount of noise. She never realised teaching was this hard and now understood why her fellow chuunin companion Shikamaru would always complain about it being 'troublesome.' She tried to collect the building anger inside her however she was failing resulting in her having a large outburst, "SHANNARO! SHUT THE HELL UP!"
The class of children no older than 10 looked at one of their substitute instructors with shock and fear and quieted down instantly. One of the young boys ran behind Kakashi trying to find protection in the form of the masked man who had stayed laidback throughout the morning engaged in reading the yet to be released Icha Icha title that he had received from Naruto as a present. He averted his lazy eye from his book to look at the pink haired girl who was seething with anger, "Sakura, maybe you should calm down. The kids are terrified."
The medic-nin looked at Kakashi trying her utmost to calm her currently volatile state, "You know I'm not the only one who's supposed to be teaching these kids. You two are meant to help out as well."
Sasuke who was leaning back against a wall a few feet across from Kakashi with his arms folded across his chest opened his previously shut eyes before addressing his fellow team mate, "It was your idea to leave the more practical part of teaching to Kakashi-sensei and me. You said you would be able to handle the rest."
Sasuke stared at the pink haired kunoichi not buckling under the death glare he was receiving from her, "I know what I said but that doesn't mean you can't help out even a little."
Sasuke had a smirk across his face whilst Sakura attempted to speak again she was interrupted by Kakashi, "He's right Sakura. Like we agreed, you handle explaining about chakra whilst I and Sasuke will teach them about shurikens and the use of exploding tags."
Sakura gave up on convincing her fellow shinobis and turned back to the students before Kakashi returned to reading his orange book giving small perverted giggles every now and again. Sasuke remained against his wall as stoic as ever before a small smile crept across his face. 'You would've enjoyed seeing Sakura like this Naruto…what exactly are you doing dobe?'
Sakura taught the children the basics of chakra use whilst they listened not daring to speak out of line or become inattentive as they feared another outburst from the beautiful yet deadly medic. An hour passed by before Sakura had completed her part in teaching and turned to Sasuke as it was his turn to address them in the use of shuriken before Kakashi would explain about the uses of exploding tag. The kunoichi sat down before the black haired Uchiha made his way to the front of the class. He looked at the class who had erupted into bouts of conversation yet again before looking back towards his kunoichi team mate who had an evil glint in her eyes.
Sasuke reached into his pouch withdrawing several shuriken before throwing them at the student's desks. They landed on several desks instantly reducing the noise of the class to silence. Sakura jaw was hitting the ground before looking towards her perverted sensei expecting him to reprimand the Uchiha, "He can't do that. The children must be…"
She never had the chance to finish her sentence as a young girl quickly spoke, "Wow! That was so cool!" Sakura had to stop herself from falling over as Sasuke had a victorious smirk spread across his face.
Sakura couldn't believe what had just transpired in front of her leaving her even more confused on how to handle teaching. 'Shannaro! What the hell?'
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The container of the Kyuubi walked towards the Hokage tower to speak with the Godaime as she had requested of him by sending a messenger bird in the earlier hours of the morning. He stopped upon seeing the grandson of the passed Sandaime staring up at the Hokage monument. He knew the younger ninja was staring at the face of the Sandaime in particular. He walked up beside the younger boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Konohamaru looked startled at first before seeing who it was. Naruto spoke first, "You miss him a lot, don't you?" The blonde shinobi stared at the monument alongside his younger companion.
Konohamaru sighed before adorning a more serious expression, "A ninja must not show any emotions."
Naruto listened to the young genin whom he had come to consider as a younger brother, "Hey, there's nothing wrong with showing emotions. I miss him too."
"We're supposed to be tools that don't have any feelings. Ebisu-sensei says that whoever breaks the rules in the shinobi world is trash." Naruto looked at the smaller boy before addressing him.
"We're not just tools Konohamaru. We have feelings, happiness, and sadness. That is what makes us human. A person must be able to realise the difference between right and wrong. One who breaks the rules in the shinobi world is trash but…whoever abandons their friends is worse then trash. The bonds we have with our precious people are what give us true strength. Protect and cherish such bonds at whatever the cost."
The Sarutobi looked at the blonde absorbing all the wisdom he received from him. Konohamaru held a high respect for Naruto as he had been the first one to acknowledge him for who he was. The older shinobi had always helped him whenever he had needed it. A genuine smile spread across his face, "Arigatou, Naruto-niichan. I need to train hard and prove myself worthy of entering the chuunin exams in two months. I want the old man to be proud of me."
"I'm sure he would be proud of you. You're going to be a great ninja, Konohamaru."
"…I just don't want to fail him. I want to prove that I'm worthy of being his legacy." The worry and gloom was evident in his voice.
"The strongest weapon a shinobi has is the will to believe in himself. You would be surprised what one can accomplish when he wills himself to." Konohamaru looked at the blonde, "Have faith in yourself and try your hardest." He gave his trademark foxy smile to his smaller friend before ruffling his hair and heading towards the Hokage tower. A warm feeling swept through the younger boy making him happy. 'Arigatou niichan.'
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Deidara and Tobi were currently heading west towards the country of Lightning. The two Akatsuki members jumped through the river dividing the border whilst remaining alert of their surroundings. They knew that due to their recent exploits in capturing jinchuurikis and bijuus as well as Deidara's attack on Sunagakure resulted in the other countries having higher security than usual.
Deidara, already in a foul mood from Tobi's constant questions, was ready to unleash hell on his next opponent. He ran as fast as he could whilst desperately trying to ignore his companions constant muttering.
"Hey, Sempai, I've got a serious question for you?" The orange mask wearing criminal asked his blonde partner with a hint of curiosity in his voice.
Deidara scoffed before replying, "You said that 10 minutes ago before asking me whether orange was the best colour for your mask." Deidara collected his building anger before running along the edge of the river and jumping into the trees.
"No, this time it's concerning the meeting we had a while ago." Deidara's ears perked to the words of Tobi as his curiosity was peaked, "I've been thinking about it for a while now but I can't seem to figure it out."
Deidara looked back at Tobi giving him a nod as a go ahead to explain further. Tobi hastened his pace so that he was running alongside his partner, "Zetsu-sempai bought back the rings of Itachi, Kisame, Hidan and Orochimaru. However he also gave an analysis on the Kyuubi brat's skills. This means that he was there when the others were fighting but he didn't involve himself in the fight. If he did then the others most likely wouldn't have died and they would've succeeded in the jinchuuriki's capture. I know Zetsu-sempai doesn't trust anyone except himself but it seems out of character for him not to assist fellow members when we're working towards a common goal."
Deidara instantly stopped his movement contemplating this new piece of information. He didn't understand how he managed to overlook such details. "You're right yeah."
Tobi became surprised at his blonde companion's admittance. He would usually expect to get reprimanded in some form. Deidara continued with a pensive expression on his face, "There's definitely something wrong yeah…" He paused for a few minutes, "We should remain cautious of the others. The leaf shinobi being in Orochimaru's lair is something we wouldn't normally overlook. We usually make sure that our plans go ahead without many problems. It almost seems that Itachi, Kisame and Hidan were sent to their death yeah."
Tobi couldn't believe what was transcending before his eyes. He gave his partner a nod before speaking, "One last question sempai." Deidara looked back towards the newest member of Akatsuki.
"You really think that green wouldn't look better on the mask?" A swift scream echoed throughout the forest.
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Naruto opened the door between him and the Hokage's office. He released a heavy sigh before walking in. He hadn't seen the woman he had come to consider as a mother for a few days now. The words of his pervert sensei were still heavy on his mind. The blonde knew that he should tell the older woman about his condition but found it hard to break the news to her.
He looked at the Godaime who seemed to be observing him closely with keen eyes. The young genin gave her a large smile, "Tsunade-baachan, what did you call me for?"
The Hokage cleared her throat flushing away any anger and controlled the twitch in her right eye at being called an old lady. Even though Naruto used the name in all of their encounters, she still couldn't get accustomed to the fact. "I was going to personally ask you about your health and whether you were ready to take missions with your team again."
Naruto grew nervous as he began to think that she may know. He put on a nonchalant act, "Why do you ask that?"
Tsunade leaned back in her chair, "Jiraiya told me you were still feeling the effects from your fight with the summoned Yondaime."
Naruto tried to determine whether he should tell her the truth but opted to lie instead, "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better. Although I must ask that I am put off any further missions for the next few weeks." He knew that he needed to dedicate as much time as he could towards his training.
The Hokage raised one of her eyebrows at the younger boy's request. She knew that it was greatly out of character for the genin to refuse missions let alone ask personally to be put off them or a while. "Why may I ask do you want that?"
Naruto began scratching the back of his head trying to quickly come up with a suitable excuse, "Heh heh, I just wanted to take a break from the work. A vacation would do me good."
Tsunade looked at the boy from head to toe, "Is that so? Do you care to explain how it seems that you've been training even though you want a break from work?"
"Uh…A shinobi must always remain fit." He eagerly waited to see whether his reply had worked.
Tsunade gave him a nod confirming his request. The young blond made his way to the exit, "Naruto…" The jinchuuriki stopped at hearing his name called. The older woman's tone was soft like that of a caring mother. "…Would you lie to me?"
Naruto's hand unconsciously moved towards the necklace that he had received from the Godaime clutching it between his hands. He felt the guilt build within him knowing that what he was doing was wrong, "…I'm sorry, I already have."
He turned to face her, his eyes showed the sorrow contained within them. The Hokage was standing also, "I didn't want to upset you."
Tsunade began to think about the various meanings that his words could've held but she knew what the blonde was talking about in particular. She felt hurt inside, "You lied about your health to me didn't you? You're far from fine." She looked at the boy who was now facing the floor.
"How bad is it?" She waited for an answer from the demon container, "Naruto…look at me…please, how bad?"
The blonde looked at her showing the few tears flowing down his face, "I'm so sorry Tsunade-baachan."
The meaning behind his words hit her like a ton of bricks. She grabbed her chest feeling her heart aching like it had never done before. The deaths of her younger brother and lover had a profound impact on her. Her heart had had become cold and she held undying hatred towards her home village. However an encounter with the hyperactive blonde had changed her. He had melted the ice surrounding her heart and made her accept the embrace of living for the future again. The tears flowed down her face as she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
'Until I become Hokage…I will not die.'
She remembered his words when he had put his life at stake to protect her from harm. She tried her hardest from keeping her voice from breaking, "No…tell me this is a joke…what about your dream?"
Naruto looked at the older woman who was now crying openly. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid doing to her. He knew that she was hurting deeply inside and it pained him to see her like this. "Some dreams can't be made to come true."
He walked towards the woman whom he considered a mother, "Please don't cry."
The older woman quickly pulled him into an embrace now crying harder soaking his shirt. He put his arms around her returning the hug, "I have accepted my fate but I'm not going to wallow in my misery. This was something bound to happen at one time or another."
Tsunade pulled back a little controlling herself, "But your future?"
"It's alright, I'm happy to be here with my friends." He paused before continuing, "Tsunade-baachan, I want you to stay as you are. The people of this village need a strong leader like you. You give them hope. No matter what I do in the future, promise me you won't lose faith."
The Godaime began to think about what the blonde may be planning but she had trust in him, "I believe you will do the right thing and I promise you I'll protect this village with my life." The two gave each other a heart warming smile before the older woman gave him a kiss on his forehead. He remembered Iruka's words allowing one last teardrop to fall from his cerulean eyes.
'Many people die in missions and wars. They die in easy and surprisingly simple ways.'
Kaze No Yaiba - Wind Blade
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